## Facts

- Shirley Montgomery alleged William S. Stephan negligently and recklessly struck her husband’s car as her husband was nearly through an intersection while driving carefully.
- The collision forced the husband’s vehicle into a tree, causing severe injuries including head trauma, multiple pelvic fractures, abdominal puncture, and lasting physical and psychological impairment.
- Montgomery did not seek damages for her husband’s personal injuries; she sought damages for her own loss of consortium, including loss of her husband’s society, comfort, aid, companionship, and conjugal affection.
- Stephan moved to dismiss on the ground that Michigan law did not recognize a wife’s independent consortium claim for negligent injury to her husband.
- The trial court dismissed the declaration, and Montgomery appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether Michigan law permits a wife to maintain an independent tort action for loss of consortium against a third party who negligently injures her husband.

## Decision

- The Michigan Supreme Court reversed the dismissal and remanded for further proceedings.
- The court held that a wife has an actionable, legally protected interest in consortium and may recover for its loss when a third party’s negligence injures her husband.
- The court rejected limiting consortium recovery to husbands and rejected dividing consortium into compensable “services” and noncompensable “sentimental” elements.

## Legal Principles

- Consortium is the spouses’ conjugal fellowship and includes society, companionship, affection, comfort, sexual relations, and related aspects of marital association; it is not confined to economic services.
- A spouse’s loss of consortium is a direct personal injury to that spouse, actionable in tort when proximately caused by a third party’s negligence.
- The consortium interest is mutual between spouses; if recognized for husbands, it must be recognized for wives on the same basis.
- Concerns about multiple claims, speculative damages, or double recovery do not justify denying the cause of action as a matter of law.

## Conclusion

Michigan recognizes a wife’s independent claim for loss of consortium arising from negligent injury to her husband, treating consortium as a unitary, legally protected marital interest held equally by both spouses.


Montgomery v. Stephan, 359 Mich. 33 (1960)